Monday, November 26, 2012

It's the Christmas season...

...which, if you're like me, is usually the time when all of the grand, wonderful writing goals I set for myself fall somewhere by the wayside until all the decorations, stockings and pecan pie have been put away until next year.

So, how can we make sure we are still continuing toward those goals even during this magical, I-should-just-stare-at-the-Christmas-tree-beauty time of year?1. Set a schedule and stick to it.

It sounds easy, but it's hard to do. My normal writing time is for a little over two hours every weekday during my son's nap time. But you have NO idea how easy it is to find other things to do during that time. Dinner prep, laundry, cleaning up the house, Pinterest, you name it and it's a distraction for me.2. Set small goals and then reward yourself when you reach them.

Yes, this is also used in puppy obedience school, but it works for me so I figured I'd share it. ;) When I sit down to write, I try to set tiny "mile markers" of sorts. Every thousand words, I get up and stretch or get a snack or spend a few minutes on Facebook or Pinterest or whatever other things I need to do that day. Then I sit down and start writing again until I reach another goal.

3. Keep it reasonable.

No, you most likely are not going to be able to write a complete novel in the month of December. But maybe you can aim for a fraction of what you normally do and if (or when) you complete more, that's just another excuse to celebrate with more pecan pie, right? ;) Don't try to overdo - the idea is to enjoy the season celebrating Christ's birth, not be completely stressed out by adding unrealistic deadlines to yourself.

What are you hoping to accomplish (or not accomplish!) this Christmas season?

5 comments:

I hope to at least TRY to finish (or at least make a sizeable dent into) my pitiful, pitiful, PITIFUL NaNoWriMo attempt (which got off to such a bad start that I can safely turn it onto a Christmas story, now). I'm thinking that if I can get good 1,000 words a day and some inspired writing marathons here and there, I can make some tracks with it. Lol. Time to bring out the candycanes as rewards! :)